Brunei Condemns Acts Of Terror At Islamic Conference
By Azlan Othman

Tehran - His Royal Highness Prince Mohamed Bolkiah, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, yesterday said that Brunei joins everyone in totally condemning horrifying acts of terror that have taken place in the last few weeks.

In a statement delivered at the 30th Foreign Ministers' Conference of the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) in Tehran last night, Prince Mohamed said Brunei shares those concerns on the events taking place in Iraq and the horrifying acts of terror that took place in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Kingdom of Morocco and to all the victims of such atrocities. 

He said, "Brunei shares those concerns not only with fellow members of this organisation but with our partners in every organisation to which we belong. We offer our deepest condolences to the people of our fellow member states the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Kingdom of Morocco and to all victims of such atrocities." 

The conference was declared open by Iranian President Mohammad Khatami who called on the Islamic world to shun terrorism as well as superpower domination. His Royal Highness also joined his colleagues in expressing solidarity with the people of Iraq. "We pray that the reconstruction of their country will take place peacefully in accordance with Security Council Resolution 1483 and that their own leaders will be representing their people as rapidly as possible".

Speaking on the terror attacks in Saudi Arabia and Morocco, the Prince said that terrorism still darkens the face of international affairs, "this appears to us to lend weight to the position taken in our own region and held by all members of Asean". "We have taken a strong joint action and we support all efforts to strengthen security throughout the world but, as well as this, we believe there must also be another equally determined commitment. 

This is to eliminate the root causes of terrorism. "We believe that there is one vital matter that may demonstrate the international community's commitment to this task. This will be the result of current efforts to achieve peace in the Middle East. "We are pleased that a political alternative to violence is now available and we congratulate our Palestinian brothers on their unanimous support for this."

His Royal Highness added that Brunei continues to respect the integrity of the Security Council resolutions on Palestine. "We therefore hope that current moves to reactivate the peace process have these as their ultimate objective. If so, we offer our full support to the Palestinian people and their leaders and to the members of the international quartet who are working with them.

"Their work we believe, will have the greatest single bearing of all on the future conduct of international affairs. It will offer a clear and early test of the way they may be conducted in the future. It will start to answer many questions that are troubling us at all times.

"These are largely directed at the principles that have shaped international dialogue for nearly 60 years, consensus, multi lateral decision-making and collective action," the Prince said. His Royal Highness also touched on the future role of the United Nations and of regional organisations and great international bodies like the OIC.

"It is of course too early to tell, but at a time of great confusion and despair among many of the people we represent, a just settlement in Palestine would begin to offer hope that multilateral principles will prevail. Such a settlement would address the most far-reaching root cause behind much of the frustration and hatred that leads to terrorist acts.

"At the same time, it would reveal the extent to which the UN remains central to world affairs, truly central. It would affirm that multilateralism is the only viable way forward for the people of the world and the only way of achieving lasting solutions to the causes of unrest," said the Prince.

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